TEPCO Tries & Fails to Stop Radioactive Leak to Sea: Japan Nuclear Incident - ROV #38

This is another clearinghouse diary for discussion and commentary about the ongoing nuclear disaster(s) in Japan.   For updated information on news and a timeline of the events following the March 11 Japanese Earthquake, visit the Mothership.  The Mothership is updated regularly and also provides a more extensive list of news and data sources, social media, crisis mapping and other relevant information.

If you would like to recommend this diary feel free to do so. All previous liveblogs published to the Japan Nuclear Incident group can be found here. The group also serves as an archive for Coverage@Kos.

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Overview of top news

• peraspera Sunday April, 3 18:47 JST Kyodo, Nikkei, Mainichi  The Japanese government indicated that it will be months before the Fukushima plant is no longer releasing radiation.
• h/t ricklewsive Sunday, April 3, 2011 The Japan Times Very good schematic of the leaky pit
  
• h/t ricklewsive Sat Apr 2, 2011 12:40pm EDT Reuters Patching the crack in the pit leaking radioactive water into the ocean failed. They are going to try soaking the water up with an absorbent polymer.
• h/t stunster 2:26am EDT AP An unnamed TEPCO employee said that damage to the reactors ranges from 25 to 70 percent.
• h/t Just Bob Sat Apr 2, 2011 7:16am BST (2:16am EDT) Reuters
  A cracked concrete pit at the #2 reactor was discovered to be leaking. Radiation in the pit is 1,000 millisieverts per hour. TEPCO is going to try repair the crack with concrete.
• h/t  ricklewsive April 2, 2:17 JST from Asahi.com

• Advance members of US military radiation team arrives in Japan
• 20-30 years to complete work and return site to empty lot: Japan nuclear engineering professor  

11:59 April 1st JST. (combined sources)
• TEPCO acknowledges measuring device's  programming error and re-establishes earlier notice that radioactive iodine in the groundwater was 10,000 times the legal limit
•  Two International Atomic Energy Agency reactor experts due in Japan this weekend.
•   US tankers are using diesel fuel to convert sea water to distilled water to hose onto No. 1 reactor.
• Officials evaluating effectiveness of 400 liters of synthetic resin solution at No. 4 to solidify contaminated dust and prevent radioactive materials from getting airborne as method for use at other reactors.
• TEPCO considers use of 'fake island' as storage space for radioactive water.
• a second test on beef from a village in Fukushima Prefecture determines it does NOT contain excessive radioactive cesium

Recent Events

• h/t Just Bob Japan's TEPCO says radioactive water leaking into the sea at nuclear plant | Reuters

  Sat Apr 2, 2011 7:16am BST [2:16 EST]

  The operator of Japan's stricken nuclear plant said on Saturday it had found radioactive water leaking into the sea from a cracked concrete pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima.

  Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the radiation in the pit measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour.

  Japan's nuclear watchdog said TEPCO is preparing to pour concrete into the pit to stop the leak.

• Something to keep in mind when reading statements such as "the radiation in the pit measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour:"
  

  Three electricians accidentally stepped into a dangerous puddle on March 24th. In one sign of unpreparedness, the gauge that measured the radioactivity of water afterwards could not go higher than 1,000 millisieverts an hour, about the level at which radiation becomes an immediate threat to health. The Economist

  
  To be clear, it has not been stated whether TEPCO now has detection instruments on site that can measure radiation in water greater than 1 Sv/hr.  Perhaps they do, and it just so happens that radiation in the pit measures exactly 1 Sv/hr.  However, as procrastinator john points out, the Asahi Shinbun (Japanese) reports the same incident as follows:
  

  TEPCO reported on the 2nd that they discovered water contaminated at a level of concentration that exceeds 1,000 millisieverts per hour in a trench that contains electrical cables near the water intake for Fukushima Number 1 Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2. They confirmed that there are cracks in the concrete portion of a surface of a vertical trench and contaminated water from inside the vertical trench is leaking into the sea.

   As procrastinator john states:  "According to Just Bob's comment the Reuters article says the level of radiation is 1,000 mSv/hr, but the Asahi's choice of words is very clear and there is no doubt they believe the level is greater than that."
• h/t HKHeadhunter Radioactive substances in underground water | NHK WORLD English
  

  TEPCO, operator of the plant, has been checking below-ground water on the advice of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.
  The company says radioactive water was detected beneath the ground near the turbine buildings of five of the 6 reactors. The remaining reactor, No. 4, could not be checked because it was blocked by debris.

  The company will further analyze underground water and release the result later on Friday.

  In response to the announcement, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters on Friday morning that the government will tighten monitoring of seawater and nearby areas.

  Friday, April 01, 2011 11:23 +0900 (JST)

• Tokyo Electric warned for not securing enough dosimeters for workers | Kyodo News
  

  1 Apr 2011 16:04

  The government's nuclear regulatory agency said Friday it had issued another warning to Tokyo Electric Power Co. over the management of workers' radiation exposure at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, after it was found that there were not enough dosimeters to cover all of the workers.

• updated by MAHW on 3/31 @ 5:51 PM mst
  Kyodo News
  

  More signs of serious radiation contamination in and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were detected Thursday, with the latest data finding groundwater containing radioactive iodine 10,000 times the legal threshold and the concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in nearby seawater rising to the highest level yet.

  
  
• Newly released high res aerial photos of the plant:  Sometimes a few pictures are worth a few thousand words.
  
• The Economist has a must read synopsis looking at the contribution of corporate culture to this crisis (h/t:  Just Bob)
  

  Outside experts say that repeated flaws in the company’s nuclear operations have denuded its board of specialists in atomic power. Mr Shimizu is the third successive president to have been hit by a nuclear accident. “This company is really rotten to the core,” says Kenichi Ohmae, a management consultant and former nuclear engineer.
  --snip--
  About 250km away, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear-power plant, hundreds of TEPCO employees and some subcontractors are trying to prevent further leaks of radioactive material from three damaged nuclear reactors and various sources of spent fuel. Their conditions are close to intolerable. At times, they have been exposed to more radiation in a few hours than they are supposed to endure in a year. Their rations are biscuits and canned food. They have a blanket each, and sleep on the floor. Some have lost homes and families to the tsunami that left 27,690 dead or missing. TEPCO sees them as soldiers. “We don’t think they are heroes. They are doing what they should,” an official says.

  Please visit earlier ROVs archived in Japan Nuclear Incident group for updates prior to March 31.

  

  Coverage@Kos: 3/31-4/02

  FishOutofWater: Radioactive Water is Flowing Directly into the Ocean at Fukushima

  Meteor Blades: Japanese P.M. raises doubts about the future of privately owned power companies like Tokyo Electric

  HoundDog: Making Our Compassion and Respect For the Japanese People More Clear

  Kbman: Fukushima Status Update 4/1 AM (full update

  Lonesomerobot: IAEA: "isolated, uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions" at Fukushima reactor 1

  citisven: The Irrational Fear of Nukes - A German Perspective

  More Below the Fold...
  

Regularly Updated Data Sources

@Kos: A database of temperature, pressure, radiation levels, etc readings over time can be found in: The Daiichi Database  This is an evolving diary that will be updated regularly.

• Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF)
• RSOS Emergency & Disaster information Services - Japan
• Daily Telephone Media Briefings from Union of Concerned Scientists
• Energy.gov: The Situation in Japan
• EPA RadNet Map View & EPA's Radiation Air Monitoring
Scribble Live

• Fukushima Data Page:  Data for all 3 reactors, as well as a good chunk of data over time: pressure, water flow, core nozzle temp, core bottom temp
• Japan Municipal Water Charts  (in Japanese)  

Best News Sources

Kyodo Nuclear News Feed
NHK Japan Live
OilDrum: Fukushima Open Thread - Tue 3/29
Asahi on Facebook
Tepco's webcam
Reuters
Fukushima Wikispaces
Bloggers for Japan

Google Earth Engine (download required): Radiation Over Japan. Visit Pachube for mapping

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